Advice piece by Bri Ryerson, Wellness Operations Intern.

Brianna Ryerson is currently a senior at North Carolina State University studying Biological Sciences with a concentration in Human Biology and a minor in Psychology. She has always been passionate about Psychology, more specifically, how Psychology relates to mental health and the destigmatization of mental health and well-being, especially for women in STEM-related fields. These fields of study produce a lot of stress, anxiety, and burnout, therefore Bri wants to do everything she can to make sure their needs are met and their voices are heard!

We spend a lot of time thinking of ways to positively affect our mental health and work hard to add mental-health-friendly activities to our everyday routine. However, we do not focus enough energy on removing negative habits from our routines for the betterment of our mental health. With that being said, here are a couple of habits I have identified in my everyday life that has affected my mental health - these may be affecting you as well!

Perfectionism

While it is so important and healthy to constantly strive for the very best version of yourself, it can leave a negative impact when that motivation to be better turns into perfectionism. Perfectionism, unfortunately, can create anxiety and trigger negative thoughts when you make mistakes or underperform. You also can become unsatisfied with your work if it is anything short of perfect, even setting standards for yourself and others that are impossible to reach. This creates a toxic cycle that negatively impacts your self-image as well as your mental health. Creating boundaries with perfectionism is extremely important for your mental health and can emphasize personal growth in the healthiest way possible. 

Social Media

While social media has made it easier than ever to connect with people, brands, information, and knowledge, it most definitely has its downsides. Social media allows people to present the very best part of their lives, even if those parts are untrue or a facade. This creates jealousy, low self-esteem, poor self-image, and leaves lasting negative impacts on our mental health. Acknowledging that not everything on social media is true and that overuse of social media can be detrimental to our well-being is extremely important in understanding the impacts of social media on our mental health. Setting time limits for social media sites and taking breaks can help us set healthy boundaries and reduce the negative impacts social media has on our mental well-being. 

Sleep

Lastly, we need to remember how much sleep really is our friend. Having poor sleeping habits, a lack of a sleep schedule, or consistently losing sleep can be very harmful to our well-being. Ensuring that we set a consistent bedtime and wake-up time in the morning can help us create a healthier schedule that will allow for more productivity during the day and less mental fatigue. Drinking an abundance of caffeine, getting less than adequate sleep, using electronics the hour before going to bed, or not taking the time to relax before trying to sleep are all examples of bad sleeping habits that need to be broken. Breaking bad sleep habits is a great first step to working on your mental wellness and building healthier habits. 

There are many different things in our everyday life that might not impact our mental health in the most positive way, so it is important that we identify those activities or habits and work on making them more beneficial for our well-being. This will not only help increase our mental wellness but our physical wellness and productivity levels will be positively impacted as well. Finding the most negative habits and making these important modifications will manifest in different parts of our lives and create noticeable and positive changes.

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Project Passport is a proactive mental wellness company that aims to bring mental wellness retreats, workshops and other services to company teams. We also help individuals create joy in their lives every step of the way. To learn more about our company retreats and services, click here. Our travel retreats will resume in the future as the world reopens.